Languages of games and play Automating game design & enabling live programming

In game development, the maximum number of game design iterations determines the achievable quality. This thesis explores what informs the design and construction of good games in order to help speed-up game development processes, and create better games more quickly. On the one hand, we study how Domain-Specific Languages (DSLs) can help automate game design by offering developers and designers abstractions and notations that raise their productivity, reduce iteration times, and improve the quality of player experiences and a game’s source code. On the other hand, we explore how generic language technology can be leveraged and developed, in particular for constructing DSLs for live programming and automating game design.
Chapter 2 presents a systematic mapping study on the state-of-the-art of ‘Languages of Games and Play’. We survey language-centric approaches for tackling challenges and solving problems related to game design and development. Our map provides a good starting point for anyone who wishes to learn more about the topic. Chapters 3, 4 and 5 describe Micro-Machinations, a DSL for game-economic mechanics. We propose techniques for its analysis, live programming and pattern-based generation. Chapter 6 demonstrates how generic language technology can be developed for constructing DSLs for live programming. We contribute two techniques: textual model differencing and run-time model patching. Finally, Chapter 7 reports preliminary results on improving tool support for automated game level design.